Yale Building Project

212 Winthrop Street, New Haven, CT

As a graduate student at the Yale School of Architecture, Siobhán took part in this annual collaboration to design and build a home for a low-income family. The challenge was to deliver a cost-efficient and buildable 1,500 SF home in the course of a semester and a summer. Affectionately called "the Wedge", the home was designed to solve a sense of scale oddity in which a tiny building would be located on an oversized corner lot within the context of larger-scaled multi-family homes. In retrospect, the lot deserved a larger home or duplex.

The width of the house increases toward the rear while the pitch of the roof elevates which, in effect, distorts one’s perception of scale. The form of the house was meant to appear bigger than it is, thus aiming to fit into the context of the bigger homes that surround it - in the same way theatrical stage sets are created.

The Wedge is the first Yale Building Project that considered sustainable building materials including wood composite siding and highly effective spray-foam insulation.

The interior open plan creates yet another play in scale - one that allows the dining room and living room to serve as one big multi-purpose space or divided into two private spaces with the use of sliding panels.

As with many architecture projects, there was no initial funding for a landscape plan or outdoor maintenance. Siobhán met with the home owners and asked for permission to establish a planting plan. The family wanted a tree in the front yard and plants along the front and rear walkway. Neighborhood Housing Services immediately agreed to secure funds for it, and a handful of us students returned on Memorial Day weekend to dig in the dirt and plant some greenery. It was a great chance to connect with the family!